CSPS Digital Academy Events/Moving Quantum Computing from Theory to Practice - Speaker Biographies

Date and time: June 16, 2021 | 10:30 am to 4:15 pm (ET)

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Speaker Biographies

	Dr. Peter C. Mason Director, Quantum Sensors Challenge Program, National Research Council Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Dr. Mason completed a bachelors degree in mathematics at Mount Allison University in 1990, gathering medals for the top graduate in both math and physics, and intramural athletics, before moving to Guyana to do volunteer work installing emergency backup electrical systems in remote communities. After doing a masters degree at McMaster University, he spent a year travelling and volunteering in Indonesia then returned to McMaster to complete his PhD in physics. In 1998, he returned to Mount Allison as a professor in the physics department before joining the National Research Council for a post-doctoral fellowship, where he led experiments at Chalk River National Lab, the National Institute of Standards (NIST), Oak Ridge National Lab, and Cornell University’s High Energy Synchrotron Source. In 2002, after a two year stint in the photonics industry, he joined Defence Research & Development Canada (DRDC) as a defence scientist in the secure mobile networking group. He was named Group Leader in 2006 and then transitioned to Head of the Cyber Operations and Signals Warfare section in 2014. He took the role of Chief Scientist of Electromagnetic sciences in 2017 and transitioned to the position of Chief Scientist of DRDC in late 2018 where he led the effort to write the DND Quantum S&T Strategy. In February of 2020, Peter moved to the National Research Council of Canada to become the director of the NRC’s new Internet of Things: Quantum Sensors Challenge Program. He is the author of more than 70 scientific papers and reports in topics spanning materials science, cyber security, machine learning, network traffic analysis, and algorithms. Outside of work, Dr. Mason is an award-winning community cycling advocate. He has a 12 year old son Finn, whose teams he coaches in hockey, cross-country skiing, and mountain biking.
	Neil Bouwer Vice-President, Canada School of Public Service Neil Bouwer has also served as an Assistant Deputy Minister at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and the Privy Council Office of Canada; and in executive positions at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, Human Resources and Social Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada. He has also worked at the Department of Finance and Western Economic Diversification Canada, and has Economics degrees from McGill University and St. Thomas University. Neil actively supports the Government of Canada policy and data communities, the Advanced Policy Analyst Program and the Free Agent HR Program.
	Geneviève Tanguay Vice President, Emerging Technologies, National Research Council Dr. Tanguay, who holds a Ph.D. in Parasitology from McGill University, has worked at Universities Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche and the Centre Québécois de valorisation des biotechnologies (CQVB). At the CQVB, she established a major network of businesses and research institutions to promote technology and innovation transfer in the biotechnology sector. She has also served as the President of Acfas, the largest association of Francophone scientists (with 7,000 members). From 2007 to 2011, she held the position of Assistant Deputy Minister for research, innovation and science and society with the Government of Québec. There, she created and implemented strategies to increase research and innovation efforts in the province and improve the involvement of society in scientific debates. She also established an issue table with deputy ministers responsible for research within the provincial government to bring greater consistency to government policies. Between 2010 and 2011, she handled the coordination of the interprovincial table of deputy ministers for innovation. Dr. Tanguay also served as Vice-Rector, Research, Creation and Innovation at the Université de Montréal (UdeM) from 2011 to 2015. In this role, she coordinated all UdeM research activities at the local, national and international levels. In 2014, she was also responsible for international relations. Her leadership enabled her to improve the amount of research being conducted at UdeM which, during her mandate, rose from fourth to second place in Canada. Over the course of her career, Dr. Tanguay has chaired or been a member on boards of directors for over 50 organizations. She has developed and maintained an impressive network of contacts with the provincial government, in Quebec's innovation system and with many stakeholders at the federal and international levels. As a proven leader with over 25 years of experience in research management, in representing the interests of research and innovation, technology transfer and in communicating scientific interests, in 2015 she started Vision et stratégies d'innovation, a research and innovation consulting firm. In April 2016, Dr. Tanguay was appointed Vice-President, Emerging Technologies at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). In this capacity, Dr. Tanguay oversees the Metrology Research Centre and the Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre. Dr. Tanguay is also responsible for the Nanotechnology, the Security and Disruptive Technologies and Advanced Electronics and Photonics research centres.
	Christian Weedbrook Founder and CEO, Xanadu Christian Weedbrook is the Founder and CEO of Xanadu, a photonic quantum computing company based in Toronto. Christian has over a decade of industry, government and research experience in quantum computing. He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Queensland and was a postdoc at MIT and the University of Toronto.
Image	Alireza Yazdi Founder and CEO at Anyon Systems Inc. Awaiting bio
	Michele Mosca Co-Founder and Professor, Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo Dr. Mosca is a founder of the Institute for Quantum Computing, Professor in the Department of Combinatorics & Optimization at the University of Waterloo, and a founding member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He is globally recognized for his drive to help academia, industry and government prepare our cyber systems to be safe in an era with quantum computers. He co-founded evolutionQ Inc. to provide services and products that enable organizations to evolve their quantum-vulnerable systems and practices to quantum-safe ones. He was a founder of the ETSI-IQC workshop series in Quantum-Safe Cryptography. He co-founded softwareQ Inc. to help organizations benefit from the power of quantum computers. He worked on cryptography during his BMath (Waterloo) and MSc (Oxford) and obtained his Doctorate (Oxford) on Quantum Computer Algorithms. His research interests include quantum computation and cryptographic tools designed to be safe against quantum technologies.
Image	Vlad Gheorghiu CEO, President and Co-Founder of softwareQ Inc Awaiting bio
	Ghislain Lefebvre Partnership development manager, Université de Sherbrooke Ghislain Lefebvre began his career as a physics teacher in several CEGEPs that welcome grade 12 and U1 students in the province of Quebec. He then launched his own business by founding a brewery with his wife. He held the positions of brewer and president. Back in the Eastern Townships, he was director of the regional agri-food regional board and responsible for the deployment of the local food identification brand. Since January 2020, he is back in the world of physics and holds the position of Partnership Development Manager for the Institut quantique of the USherbrooke.
	Sarah Blanchette Junior quantum computing developer, Université de Sherbrooke Sarah Blanchette graduated in 2021 from the University of Montreal with a bachelor’s degree in physics. During her studies, she held a junior data scientist role in the artificial intelligence department of a major airline. She is now a junior quantum software developer for the IBM Q Hub of the Institut quantique at the Université de Sherbrooke.
	Kenneth Wood Global Business Development Director, IBM Quantum System Program Kenneth Wood is the Global Business Development Director for the IBM Quantum System Program reporting into the IBM Intellectual Property organization. Mr. Wood provides management and direction to quantum business development resources located in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific. Under his leadership, the IBM quantum team has finalized technology access, joint development and license agreements with JP Morgan Chase, ExxonMobil, Samsung, Goldman Sachs, Amgen, BP, Mitsubishi Chemical, Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Labs, and many others. Mr. Wood received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University, and holds a Professional Engineering license. LinkedIn
	Maxime Dion Quantum Computing Developer, Université de Sherbrooke Maxime Dion completed his doctorate in experimental physics at the Université de Sherbrooke in 2017 on quantum materials, more specifically, on the superconductivity in thin films. Since then he has had a strong interest in theory, programming and pedagogy. In 2020, this prompted him to join the Institut quantique team as a quantum computing developer in order to participate in the IBM Q space project. Maxime’s current contributions to quantum efforts involve training and supporting various research projects using the particular characteristics of quantum computers. His research interests cover the simulation of quantum systems and the optimization of machine learning algorithms.
	Marco Armenta Quantum computing software developer, Université de Sherbrooke Marco Armenta did his bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics in Mexico. He then got a Ph.D in mathematics in a joint program between the University of Montpellier in France and CIMAT in Mexico. He moved to Sherbrooke in 2019 to do a postdoc at the departments of mathematics and computer science at Université de Sherbrooke and worked on the mathematics of artificial neural networks. He is now a quantum software developer at Institut quantique.